Sie sind auf Seite 1von 3

Rigoberta Menchu et al. v. Rios Montt et al.

('Guatemala Genocide case')


Country of proceedings: Spain Context of crimes: Guatemala Date: 1999 - present Keywords: Genocide, murder, jurisdiction (universal) Court documents (in Spanish) 02-12-1999 - Complaint 13-12-2000 - Audiencia nacional: Auto (see downloadable documents at right top of this page) 25-02-2003 - Tribunal supremo: Sentencia (see downloadable documents at right top of this page) 26-09-2005 - Tribunal constitucional de Espaa : Sentencia (see downloadable documents at right top of this page) 03-11-2005 - Audiencia nacional: Interpretacin de la sentencia del tribunal constitucional 11-10-2006 - Writ of Indictment 22-11-2006 - Request for extradition 10-12-2007 - Constitutional Court of Guatemala decision on jurisdiction of Spanish courts [Part 1] [Part 2] 14-03-2008 - Order to arrest the accused 24-04-2013 - Constitutional Court of Guatemala decision [in Spanish] 10-05-2013 - Summary version of the tribunals ruling [Audio file in Spanish] 20-05-2013 - Ruling Constitutional Court (See downloadable documents at the right top of this page) Other documents Report of the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) [in Spanish] [in English] Summary of Testimony before Spanish Courts (February 2008) Juicio de Genocidio en Guatemala - Resumen de Kate Doyle Press release: Guatemala ex-dictator found guilty of genocide

Presentation of the case The Guatemala Genocide case, also known as Rigoberta Menchu et al. v. Rios Montt et al., concerns a complaint filed in 1999 against former Guatemalan head of state, General Efran Ros Montt and other senior officials. The complaint alleges that the accused are guilty of terrorism, systematic torture, as well as genocide against the indigenous Mayan population between 1960 and 1996. The filing of the complaint was influenced by the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in London. On 13 December 2000, the Spanish National Court ruled that the plaintiffs had not adequately exhausted their legal remedies in Guatemala, accepting a motion to dismiss by the Public Prosecutor. After an appeal against the decision, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled to partly overturn the National Courts decision in February 2003. The Supreme Court allowed only those claims with a connection to Spain to proceed, thus excluding the claims by the Mayan plaintiffs. However, on 26 September 2005 the Spanish Constitutional Court reversed the Supreme Courts decision, citing the intention of legislators to allow for universal jurisdiction in Spain over certain international crimes. The Court stated that Spanish courts have jurisdiction to prosecute crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity and torture, regardless of the nationality of the victims or accused. Arrest warrants for eight accused were issued in July 2006 and accepted by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court. Nevertheless, in December 2007 the Guatemalan Court reversed its decision, holding that the warrants and extradition requests were invalid. Despite the Guatemalan Courts decision, an international call to invite witness testimony was issued, with testimonies taking place at various stages in 2008 and 2009. In February 2009, Christian Tomuschat, President of the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) for Guatemala testified before the Spanish courts. After being elected in 2007 for a seat in Congress, Montt again enjoyed immunity. But, with the end of his term in office on 14 January 2012, this immunity was lifted. Subsequently, on 26 January 2012, Montt had to appeare before a court in Guatemala. On 1 March 2012, a Guatemalan judge declined to grant Ros Montt amnesty from genocide charges, paving the way for a trial. The trial started on March 19, in Guatemala City at the Tribunal Primero A de Mayor Riesgo. Montt stood trail for genocide and other charges related to atrocities committed against members of the countrys Mayan Ixil population. On April 18 2013, the trial was annulled by a first-instance judge, Carol Patricia Flores, who had been suspended from the case in 2011 and then reinstated by a judgment of the Constitutional Court. Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz declared the ruling illegal and vowed to use every measure available to stop it. A few days later, the Constitutional Court issued decisions regarding some of the major legal challenges which caused the trial to be temporary suspended. After two weeks the suspension was lifted and the trial was re-convened. On May 10 2013, the 86-year-old Montt was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the crime of genocide and 30 years for crimes against humanity by the Tribunal. Judge Yassmin Barrios stated that Rios Montt was fully aware of plans to exterminate the indigenous Ixil

population during his 1982-83 rule. The Court canceled any alternative measures and ordered his immediate detention. The judgment was seen as an historic moment, because it was the first trial where a former head of state was prosecuted and sentenced to jail by a national court for the crime of genocide Ten days later, on 19 May 2013, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala overturned the judgment of the Tribunal for due process violations, setting back the trial to the proceedings of April 19. The decision stemmed from a constitutional challenge raised by the defense at the final stage of the trial in relation to events that occurred at the opening of the trial. On the first day, the defense attorney of Rios Montt was expelled, leaving him represented only by the attorney of Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez for several hours, until his prior attorneys returned to the court the second day. As a result of these events, the defense raised a constitutional challenge and the Constitutional Court and the Guatemalan Appeals Court ordered the Tribunal to remedy the due process violations. At the final stage, the defense raised another constitutional challenge, claiming that the Tribunal had not complied with the orders of the Appeals Court, even though the latter had recognized the Tribunal as having fully complied in a judgment just the day before the release of the verdict. This challenge was accepted by the Constitutional Court, albeit with division among the judges, overruling the judgment of the Tribunal. Two of the five judges Mauricio Chacon and Gloria Patricia Porras filed a strong dissenting opinion, criticizing the verdict as disproportional and the behavior of the defense as intentionally obstructionist. Related cases Other cases related to Guatemala Other cases before the Spanish Courts Other cases related to the universal jurisdiction doctrine

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen